1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic component, and more particularly, to an electronic component including three or more LC parallel resonators.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a typical example of electronic components of the related art, a three-dimensional spiral inductor disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-190934 (FIG. 16a) is known. This three-dimensional spiral inductor is a helical coil which is disposed within a multilayer body and which turns around a winding axis extending in a direction substantially orthogonal to a stacking direction of the multilayer body. Such a three-dimensional spiral inductor is used in, for example, a low pass filter.
A low pass filter using three-dimensional spiral inductors is formed by connecting a plurality of LC parallel resonators, each being constituted by a three-dimensional spiral inductor and a capacitor, in series with each other. Since a three-dimensional spiral inductor is formed in a helical shape, the air-core diameter is larger than that of a spiral inductor. It is thus possible to obtain a higher Q factor than a spiral conductor, thus making it possible to reduce the insertion loss of a low pass filter.
In a low pass filter, three-dimensional spiral inductors are arranged linearly such that the winding axes thereof substantially coincide with each other. Because of this arrangement, the three-dimensional spiral inductors are positioned too close to each other, thus enhancing electromagnetic coupling between the three-dimensional spiral inductors. Accordingly, in a low pass filter, the possibility that a high frequency signal is transmitted between three-dimensional spiral inductors is increased, thus failing to obtain a sufficient attenuation in a band other than a pass band of the low pass filter.